CHAPTER XXVI
A Trip to the Cannibal Islands and Captain Brown’s Story

We stayed together in Cooktown for a couple of weeks, and then Captain Brown was offered the command of a small vessel trading between Cooktown, Townsville, and the Solomon Islands, sometimes calling at Port Moresby, New Guinea. He at once offered me the berth of mate in her, and I gladly accepted, as it was quite a new part of the world to me, and just what I wanted. The “Pelew” was a smart little schooner of a hundred and fifty tons, could sail like a water witch, and was a right staunch little craft. We shipped three deck hands, one a young Danish seaman, who had cleared out from an English ship at Brisbane, and two Kanakas. The Dane was a smart, active young fellow, his only drawback being that he could not speak a word of English, but it was evident he would soon learn. The Kanakas were two splendid types of the Solomon Islanders, they were sharp, intelligent men and could speak “pigeon” English. In their younger days they had been slaves on a Queensland sugar plantation, but for the last two years they had been on one of the missionary schooners cruising among the Pacific Islands. They took life very merrily, and were always laughing, no matter what had to be done—they got some fun out of it. Work was no trouble to them, and when there was no work going on they would wrestle with each other, tumbling each other about until the perspiration rolled off them, but they never lost their tempers over it, but would finish up with a hearty laugh. Sometimes they would get the young Danish sailor to wrestle with them, but they could do just what they liked with him, he was muscular and strong, but they were slippery as eels, and twisted and twirled as though there was not a bone in their bodies, and always slipped out of his fingers before he could get a grip on them. It was great fun to Captain Brown and me to see the Kanakas, Tombaa and Panape, trying to teach Neilson, the Dane, to speak English, and Neilson trying to teach them Danish. That seemed the only thing they could not get any fun out of. At last Panape gave it up, and would not have it at any price.

“That no tam good,” said he, shaking his head. “Good fellow white man—speak Englis’—no that allee samee you. You no takee allee same good fellow captain—good fellow, mate?”

“No,” said Neilson in English.

“You no tam good, then,” said the Kanaka. “All good fellow speak Englis’. Me good fellow—me speak Englis’. Tombaa, he good fellow man, too—he speak allee samee missiony man, he teach us to say prayer to ‘Big Fellow Master’ (God), prayer belong sleep, prayer belong get up. Tombaa you speak white fellow commandments.”

I drew nearer to them, anxious to hear a Kanaka’s version of the ten commandments. Tombaa stood up, and throwing his chest out like a proud turkey cock, he delivered the following version:—

The Ten Commandments in Kanaka.

  1. Man take one fellow God, no more.
  2. Man like him God first time, everything else behind.
  3. Man no swear.
  4. Man keep Sunday good fellow day, belong big fellow Master.
  5. Man be good fellow longa father, mother belonga him.
  6. Man no kill.
  7. Man no take him mary belonga ’nother fellow man.
  8. Man no steal.
  9. Man no tell him lie ’bout ’nother fellow man.
  10. ’Supose man see good fellow something belonga ’nother fellow man, he no want him all the time.

I was much amused at their interpretation, what it lacked in length was made up by the clear definition of the meaning of the ten commandments, and these two lived up to it.

We left Cooktown with a general assortment of cargo for Townsville, and a few deck passengers. The wind being fair and the weather fine, we made the passage in fifty-four hours, anchoring inside Magnetic Island. Our cargo and passengers were soon landed, and the schooner loaded for Port Moresby, New Guinea. The cargo consisted of cloth, prints, calicoes, ribbons of all sorts and colours, tobacco (horrid stuff), spirits, axes and various joinery tools, etc., and some agricultural implements. We also had four passengers—German officials—going to the German settlement, north-east New Guinea.